2024-01-29 23:00:31
The attorney general of Guatemala, Consuelo Porras, attended a meeting this Monday (01/29/2024) with the new president Bernardo Arévalo and his cabinet, but left early citing legal impediments, without addressing the president’s request for him to resign. The head of state assured that, with this, the prosecutor “refused” to fulfill her mandate by not being accountable for her management at the head of the Public Ministry.
Porras, who promoted a judicial crusade that put Arévalo’s inauguration in check, responded to the second summons from the new president, who has publicly asked her to resign, something she rejects. His mandate expires in 2026. “Unfortunately I found it necessary to withdraw since the meeting was intended to be held within the framework of the Council of Ministers, which by constitutional and legal mandate prohibits me from participating,” Porras stated in a video broadcast on social networks following leaving the Presidential House.
The official assured that she attended Arévalo’s summons “in compliance with the organic law of the Public Ministry,” but she withdrew because that meeting interfered with the “autonomy” of the institution that she directs. The president, whose arrival to power two weeks ago has raised fears among the country’s traditional elite, summoned Porras to the cabinet session following she refused to meet with him last Wednesday.
“Legal actions”
That same day, the 70-year-old prosecutor, considered “corrupt” by the United States, said she would not leave her position. Arévalo lacks the power to remove her from it. After the cabinet meeting, the president said that Porras must decide whether or not he steps aside. “The resignation request is public and notorious. It is in the public domain, she knows it and I believe it is placed on the table in such a way that she is the one who, with her actions, defines whether she is accepting it or not,” declared the president. .
The president indicated that Porras’ “frustrated visit” was intended to address joint activities and noted that he will evaluate “the legal actions that apply” in the face of Porras’ “refusal” to participate in the cabinet session. The international community accuses Porras of “undermining” democracy in Guatemala by having put the presidential transition at risk with questionable investigations, including one that considered the 2023 elections won by Arévalo “null.”
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